Traction-engine



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Patented Oet. 25,1892.

IMA-.w um. n' 1..., I QJ... b :I ...ta\\\\\\ (No Model.)

D. S. STEWART- TRAGTON ENGINE.

(No Model.) I 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

D. S. STEWART.

TRAGTION ENGINE.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(No Model.)

D. S. STEWART;

TRAGTION ENGINE.

Patented Oct. 25, 1892,

' Engines;

' through one of the trucks.

p said chains vUNITED STATES I).\\'II) S. SflEWART, Ol" MORRIS, WISCONSIX.

Terrenos-ENGINE.

PATENT OFFICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Iietters li'atent No. I811,828, dated October 26, 1892.

Application tiled December 21, 189

1.' serai No. 415.712. (No man.)

To all whom it my concern:

Beit known that I, DAVID S. STEWART,v a

Acitizen of the United States, 'and a. resident of Morris, in the county of Shawano, and in the State of Wisconsin, have invented certain ne'w and useful Improvements in 'iractionf and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in-traction-engines; and -itconsistsinthemattershereinafterdescribed, and pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention relates more particularly to an improved form of traction-engine adapted for use in doing heavy hauling, such as for logging and similar purposes, capable of bcng used in all kinds of weather and upon all kinds oi roads.

In the accom pauying drawings, illustrating my. invention, Figure l' is a side elevation, partlyin section, of a traction-en gine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal horizontal section of the same, taken on line 2 2 of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a. transverse vertical section of my improved tractiou-engine, taken Fig. 4 is av detail view of one portion of my improved appa. ratus.

In said drawings, A represents the boiler of my 4improved traction-engine; A', the firemans cab; B B, the .truck-frames; C tl, the axles of the traction-wheels, and l) l) supports for the boiler A, pivotally'engaged with the. central portions of the axles C C.

E E are the traction-wheels, and l l1 are traction-chains trained over said wheelsA E E and wheels G and l', respectively. Each of the'trueks is provided with one of the axles. C, a traction-wheel E, located upon each end of said axle, a chain F, trained over said traction-wheel, and wheels G and G', over which are also trainefl. Upon the inner end of the shaft g of each of the wheels G-is located a suitable gear-wheel ll, which is operatively engaged in any desired manner with Asuitable driving mechanism. In the partienlar form -illustrated in the drawings this ar-wheel 1I is arranged to mesh with a pinion h, located upon they outer end of a shaft I, upon the inner end of which is provided a.

bevel-gear 1|', meshing in turn with a bevelinten J, which is which power located upon a shaft j, to is applied in any'desired manner. As illustrated in the drawings, each of one end by means of a universal joint. I. with a revoluble shaft extending Vdiagomilly between the front and rear trucksand similarly engaged with the shaftj upon the opposite side of the rear truck. 'ihese revoluble diagonally-extemling shafts each comprise an angular shaft or rod K, having a sliding engagemeut at its front and rear ends with correspondingly-shapcdtubular sections K K', as shown more particularly in Fig. 2. forward ends of said shaftsjj on the front truck are secured by similar universal connections l. L' revolublc angular shaftslii M, engaged with correspondingly-shapcd tububy universal joints m-'m with'suitable crank or driving shafts N N, d riven by suitable engines 0 0, preferably located upon a platteren S at the frontend ci' the boiler and supplied with steam from the boiler hy a pipe o.

At convenient points on the crank-shafts N are located wheels l l, betweenwhieh is 4suit-'ably supported a-slidiug bar or rod R, carrying brake-shoes adapted to engage with the peripheries of said wheels ll l', and adaptiedto he moved by a lever' Q, so as to bring either of said shoes into opeative engagement with one of the wheels l.

As shown in the drawings, the wheels G (il upon each truck are actuated by the driving mechanism to drive the traction-chains -F F, the wheels EE running loosely upon the ends of the axles (l C and thewhcels G' G being arranged to run as idlers and simply servin1r tohold the chains F F in proper position and sulliciently taut to secure the proper opera tion of said chains.

maybe employed; but I 'prefer to construct with links adapted to .engage with teeth upon the wheels (i G and G' G'. If desired,the wheclslf) E may also be provided with teeth; but I prefer to provide said wheels with grooves chains lie. .'ihe'idler-gears G' G' are preferably mounted onstud-shafts y' g', which are journaled in sliding boxes g2 g, which'. are pressed away from the other wheels G G by springs or cushions y g3.

f Any suitable means may be preventngvertical play or oseil tion ot the the shaftsj of the front truck is connected at c u in their peripheries, in which said rovided forlar sections 3l M,whieh are in turn engaged Anyconvenient ferm of traction-chain these chains with suitable traction-teeth andt e ceases I 5 gaged at its lower side with an eye or loop t upon the frame of the truck. The stirrup or support T, at its lower side where it engages with the eye or loop t, is formed into an arc concentric with the pivotal supports D of the boilerupon the axle C, so as to permit a'lateral 'oscillation of the truck beneath ithe boiler. A

The operation of my improveddevice is as follows: The operator upon the front platform S runs the engines O O so as to rotate the crank-shafts N N in opposite directions, as'shown by the arrows in Figs. 2v and 4and :notion is communicated through the universal connections m m, shafts M M and M M, and universal connections L L' to the shafts j j of the front truck'. The pinions J J, carried by said shafts j j, are thereby actuated, the bevel-gears I' I and the.

and they drive shafts I I, carrying the piuions h h, which'in turn drivethe wheels H upon the axles of the wheels G G. This yoperation transmits motion to each of the traction-chains FF upon the front truck over gears G, G', andE. By the diagonally-arranged shafts K' K and K together with their universal-joint connections with the shafts j 7' upon opposite sides of the front'and rear trncks,'motion is transmitted from the gearing upon each side of the front truck to the gearing upon the 35 opposite side of the rear truck, the arrangement of the wheels G, G', same upon both front and rear trucks. A uniform forward movement is thus given to all the traction-chains F F to propel the vehicle straight ahead. If it is desired' to turn the machine to oneside, the engine 0 upon the side toward which it is desired to turn is either stopped or retarded in its the engine upon the opposite side of its movement. "This operation serves to retard the movement of the traction mechanism upon one side of the forward truck and the traction mechanism upon theyopposite sideof the Yresrtruck, the of tha-mechanism continuing mentas before'.

caused to turn at so as to r'nn the their move# ditferentangles tothe boiler,

By the arrangement of the diagonal shafts K K', as before described, -the sam'e being composed of sectionsslidingly engaged with each of the trucks in an obvious manner; Similarly the shafts M M are automatically lengthened orshortened when the trucksare turned, so as to correspond Awith the positions of the trucks. Anyconvenient means-torretarding the motion of the engine O at either side of Vor turnin A I I! desired, but one of the trucks may be proand E being the ,the platform .being permitted to continue.

trucks, each -The truckswill 'thereby be onetoward the rightand'the other toward .the left, th us enabling the ina-4r v chine tolbe turned in a very limited space.

other, said diagonal shafts are adapted to au-' matically adjust themselves to the positions,

the platform S may be provided, that illustrated in the drawings and herein described being a simple form of brake mechanism adapted to be thrown into engagement with either one of the wheels P P upon the crankshafts of said engines, as .may be desired.

By my construction of thetrac'tion mechanism, as before described, the toothed chains F F are adapted to engage very firmly with the surface of the ground, and any accumulation 0f dirt or of snow and ice which may adhere to the chains will be pushed out of the links by the teeth ol.' the wheels G G G and G' G as the chains pass oversaid wheels, the traction-chains being thereby kept clean and prevented -from clogging, this clogging or filling up of the traction-teeth being a very great defect found in devices of `this nature as here-f tofore constructed.

My improved forni. of tractionengine is I very easily operated, and, by the arrangem ent ofthe driving-chains and the traction mech-- while by the anism for actuating thesame, is adapted to be used upon roadswhere devices of ordinary construction could not be used, arrangement of the power-transmitting mechanism themachine is particularly'adapted gin very small spaces.

vided with traction mechanism and theother truck arranged to trail after it.

Many of the details of construction may be variously modified without in "any way affectin'g the merits of my fore do not desire to limit myself to the exact. form of construction shown and described.

Having thus described my invention, what` Iclaimis- 1. In a traction-engine, each provided one or more trucks, with a Asingle traction-wheel said traction-wheels, and means for .'giuingin dependent longitudinal motion to said chains, substantially-'as set forth. t S A 2. A traction-engine comprising one or more wheel upon each side thereof, `traction-chains trained ovensaid traction-wheels, and driving .mechanism comprising suitable gearing and remaininghportions independently f actuated sprocket A- wheels invention, and I there- IOO 1 upon each side, traction-chains trained-over jprovided with. a single traction I adapted to'engagef'with saidtractionchains and to give a longitudinal movement thereto,

-substantiallyas'lset forth. f

3. In a tractlon-engine,a truck pi votally engaged with the boiler-support,jtractionwheels located upon opposite n sprocketfwheels located `in advance and in rear thereof, traction-chains trained over-said traction and sprocket wheelsr upon each side of said truck, 4and means for giving an independent rotation to oneof thesprocket-wheels upon each'side of th'e'truckLsubstantially as! and for the purposes'set forth. y' y 4.; In atractionengine,atruck pivotally enag'ed with the boilersupport, said truclrbeng provided upon-'each wheel loosely mounted upon an axle, said sides vof Asaid truck, 1

side with a tractiousenesel traction-wheels being provided with peripheral grooves or channels, toothed tractionchains trained over said wheels and arranged to lie within said grooves or channels, sprocket-wheels located in advance and in rear of said traction-wheels and engaging with said chains, and suitable means for giving independentrotation to one of said sprocket.-A wheels upon each side of the truck, substan tially as set forth.

5. In attraction-engine, atrnckpi'votally engaged with the boiler-support, said truck beingprovided on each sidewithatractiomwheel loosely mounted upon an axle, said tractionwheelsbeing provided withperipheral grooves or channels, toothed traction-chains trained oversaid wheels and arranged to lie within said grooves or channels, sprocket-wheelslocated in advance and in rear of said tractionwheels and engaging with said chainmoueof i said sprocket-wheels Aupon each side of the truck being mounted upon a stud-shaft slid ingly engaged with the truck-frame, and suitable means for giving independent rotation to the'other sprocket-wheel upon each side of the truck, substantially as set forth.

6. A traction-engine comprising trucks pivotally engaged with the boiler-supports, each of said trucks provided with independentlyactuated traction devices upon its opposite sides, and mechanism for transmitting motion from the traction device upon each .side of one truck to the traction device upon the opposite side of the adjacent truck, substantially as set forth.

7. A traction-engine comprising trucks pivotally engaged with the boiler-supports, each of said trucks provided with independently actuated traction devices upon its opposite sides, and mechanism for transmitting motion from the traction device upon each side of one truck to the traction device upon the opposite side of the adjacent truck, said mechanism comprising revoluble shafts composed of two or more sections slidingly engaged with each other and having universal-joint connections with said traction devices at its front and rear ends, substantially as set forth. 8. A traction-engine comprising trucks pivotally engaged with the boiler-supports, each `et said trucks provided with independentlyactuated traction devicesupon its opposite sides, mechanism for transmitting motion from the traction device upon each side of one truck' to the traction device upon the opsite side of the adjacent truck, and means lfor preventing vertical oscillation or play of said trucks, substantially as described.

9. In a traction-engine, the combination, with the boiler and a truck pivotally engaged therewith, of a platform secured to the boiler and provided with independently-operating engines, independent traction devices located upon opposite sides of said truck, and ilexible connections between said independent engines and *iallv as described.

said traction devices, substan- 10Q In a .traction-engine, the combination, with the boiler and atruck pivotally engaged therewith, of 'a platform secured tothe boiler .and provided with independently-operating engines, independent traction devices located upon opposte sides .et said truck, flexible connections between said independent engines andsaid vtraction devices, and means for retarding the motion of one of said engines without aecting the operation of the other, substantially as described.

11. Atractiou-engne eomprisingtruckspivotally engaged with the boiler-supports, eac -of said 'trucks provided with independentlyactuated traction sides, mechanism for transmitting motion from the traction 'device upon each side of one'truck to the traction devicenpon the op posi-teside of the adjacent truck, 'a4 latter-xn secured tothe boiler and provided w th vindependentl operating engines, and flexible connections etweensaid engines andI the traction mechanism upon one of said trucks, substantially as described. 1 '1 2, In' a traction-engine, the combination, with the boiler and a truck pivotally engaged therewith,of a platform secured to the boiler and provided with indeps'ndently-operatina` engines, independent traction devices located .upon opposite sides otsad truok,tlexible connections between said independent and' said traction devices, and a reciprocating bar provided with friction devices at its opposite ends ada ted for engagement with the engine upon ei 4her side of the platform, and a lever for throwing said friction devices into or out of operation, scribed. 4 i

13. A ltraction device for road-engines, com-` prising a tractionfwheel, sprocketwheels arranged to revolve in the same plane with and upon opposite sides of said traction-wheel, one of said sprocketwheels being operatively engaged with suitable driving mechanism, and a traction-chain trained over said tracengines substantially as dedevices upon its opposite IOO IIC

tion and sprocket wheels, substantially as set forth.

14. A traction device for road-engines, comprising a traction-wheel loosely journaled upon an axle and provided with a circumferential groove, two sprocket-wheels arranged to revolve in the same plane. withbut upon opposite sides of said traction-wheel and one of said sprocket-wheels being operatively engaged with suitable driving mechanism, and a traction-chain trained over said traction and sprocket wheels, forth. v A

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand, at Morris, in the county of Shawano and State of Wisconsin, in the presence'of two witnesses.

'nAvm s. STEWART;

substantially as set.

Witnesses: D.E. Wsscorr, A. 0. W- 

